An article talking about COVID risk and AS
Ok so im sure many of you read that report that came out saying people with autoimmune conditions such as RA are at a significantly higher chance of getting serious COVID and hospitiliazation etc. However, this is may not be the case for AS it seems.
According to Dr. Abhijeet Danve, assistant professor of medicine (rheumatology) at the Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale Spondyloarthritis Program, in New Haven, Connecticut.
Here is the article.
He also worked on the Pfizer vaccine.
Also here is an study showing the difference between RA and AS for people who got COVID. People with AS fared FAR better than those with RA.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33822706/
Please read the articles for yourselves. I am unvaxxed becuase im afraid itll damage my body even more from increased inflammation from a major flare up due to the normal reaction from it. I already have very high levels of inflammation constantly and its already ruined my joints and one eye. I had Crohns and already lost my colon due to it bursting 20 years ago from inflammation etc. as well. Im not on any biologics or steroids. Jsut Celebrex,.
I don't feel qualified to comment here, but my own experience is that the UK government have me down as being 'seriously vulnerable' whereas my local rheumatoligy department don't believe I am at any increased risk. Personally, I go with the government categorisation simply because, a few years back, I had the most dreadful reaction to an infection and was laid up for more than three months. So, I am wary. Although some people might not be any more vulnerable the the average person on the street, I'm not prepared to find out.
Best wishes
Steve (Community Advocate)
I want to disagree respectfully. I read the material and I noticed several factors which speak directly against your determination.
Please start with the Everyday health article on its face. I believe you misstate that Abhijeet Danve, MBBS, MD, makes a conclusive statement about the differences between AS and RA. In fact in Everyday Health states that difference might be because:
"people who have ankylosing spondylitis are not prescribed the high-dose steroids — a risk factor for poorer outcomes — as are some with other rheumatic conditions like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus."
https://www.everydayhealth.com/ankylosing-spondylitis/things-people-with-ankylosing-spondylitis-should-know-about-the-covid-19-vaccines/
Furthur the Everyday Health article goes on to say that Dr. Danve emphasizes, more needs to be known. “Data about the risk of severe COVID-19 among patients with AS are scanty,” https://www.everydayhealth.com/ankylosing-spondylitis/things-people-with-ankylosing-spondylitis-should-know-about-the-covid-19-vaccines/
Even the Everday Health article which you hold up as being the source of your understanding, states that different outcomes cited may be because of greater steroid use, not disease activity or type.
In addition to that specifically cited is referenced at: https://www.clinexprheumatol.org/abstract.asp?a=16822
This is the conclusion statement of that study:
"The study revealed that the hospitalisation rate during COVID-19 infection, but not the mortality, was significantly higher in RA as compared to SpA patients. This could be explained either by different treatment strategies or by different susceptibilities of the two diseases."
Note here the issue is not ascribed directly to disease differences, and the statement suggests that the differences could be related to treatment strategies. The authors do not make broad generalizations. Nor should the reader.
The Meta study that you cite was published in March 2021. This is the link to the underlying article cited by Everyday Health:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33822706/
There is no broad statement about the differences between the various disease types. Remember, if a significant difference were able to be specified, it would have been in the conclusion. It was not. Here is the conclusion statement of the Meta-Analysis cited:
Conclusion:
"This systematic review and meta-analysis showed that RD patients were more likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 than the general population, but we did not find that RD patients had higher hospitalization risk or more serious clinical outcomes related to COVID-19. The presence of comorbidities, hypertension, lung diseases were significantly associated with the increased risk of COVID-19-related hospitalization in rheumatic patients, and anti-TNF drugs were associated with lower hospitalization risk. Older age was associated with worse clinical prognosis."
Overall making such a broad-ranging statement or determination like not being vaccinated based on such limited conclusions seems less than ideal.
Further, the overall assessment of the Everyday Health article is that people with Rheumatic disease have worse outcomes from COVID-19 than those without Rheumatic disease; it seems most unadvisable to conclude that one should not be vaccinated. In fact, it seems to be downright dangerous.
But if you draw that conclusion, I will not argue with your personal choice.One of my friends took vaccine earlier this year. She has RA. Her side effect is the swollen joints and a similar symptom to frozen shoulder of her injection arm. The swollen joints went away in couple of weeks. But the frozen shoulder was there for a couple of months, or probably longer. But some doctors said the frozen shoulder may be due to the improper injection. they suggested to rub it after the jab. I don't know if anyone else has experienced this or not.
